Hey, Pants people. I just wanted to stop real
fast and say thank you so much for listening.
We love getting to know you guys and interacting
with you, whether it's on the Discord, social
media, anywhere. So this one's for you. We hope
when things seem bleak, but more important than
anything, they inspire us. And I can think of
no luminary's origin story that requires inspiration,
nor is that of the silent luminary, Heloli. So
if y 'all don't mind a bit of a long spotlight
being told today, let's go in full detail as
I recount this tiefling's tragic tale. Heloli
was born blind, but never unwanted. Her mom,
Susanuko, who chanted the mountains and hills
of pale, loud -popped flowers, raised her as
one of their own. These monks believed every
child was a thread in the local incarnate's weave
of fortune, even one who could not see. She grew,
listening to the rhythm of the wind across the
pop fields, the toll of the pedals flying in
the winds, and the steady hum of the monastery's
bells. Her perception grew keen, though rooted
in sound and sensation rather than sight. In
time, she learned to pluck music from stringed
instruments, finding that vibration and harmony
spoke to her more deeply than words ever could.
The shamisen seemed to connect to her innermost
persona. The monks encouraged her unusual gift,
allowing her music to blend into their meditations,
privileges, and horticulture. To them, she was
a living testament that beauty did not require
perfection. Many claimed that her song brought
the life of flowers joy and even sustenance.
One night, as she walked the familiar paths between
the monastery and the flower fields, a presence
took her hand. It was warm, almost reassuring,
and though she could not see it, it spoke directly
in her mind. The voice promised her an audience,
one who would appreciate her tremendous music.
agreeing and interested in spreading the joy
of her songs. She agreed. Blind, she did not
know that she had been led to and crossed the
threshold of the spirit realm. She only felt
the cobblestones stretch beneath her feet, the
scent of nightly smoke, the strange hush of anticipation.
Plus, she carved beneath her feet and onto a
wooden platform. She took her place on stage
before a crowd of listeners. They sat and wrapped
attention as her fingers danced across the strings.
The sounds of instrument rose mournful and bright
until the audience cheered. and clapped with
utmost joy. At the end, she was led gently back
to her bed in the monastery, exhausted. The demon
praised her performance, and with a smile she
never saw, gifted her a shamisen of polished
black wood. But the joy of this is twisted, and
her dreams that nigh relive in the moment. The
final applause became ragged screams, the laughter
burning wails. Her lowly could not see the fire
consuming them, nor hear the demon satisfy the
laughter echoing over the inferno. The screams...
The ghost of the audience had been no gathering
of nobles at all. They had been the living townsfolk
trapped by her music, sacrificed by the demon
burn while they danced to her strings. She grieved
in silence, her new shamisen lying across her
lap like a curse. The monks tried to comfort
her, but she retreated further and further in
what every note was poison, every vibration a
reminder. Years passed before she met the luminary,
a wandering Kenku master who carried the title
as both a name and a mantle. understood what
it was to live in silence and shadow, to carry
a curse that did not belong to you. With patience,
he taught her to wield music and movement as
a weapon against despair, rather than serve it.
Through his guidance, she learned to blend the
discipline of the body in the harmony of the
spirit. Her martial strikes were rhythm, her
meditations were song. The shamisen, once a simple
betrayal, became a bridge, a way to honor those
who lost by wielding it against foes, like the
demon who had tricked her. In time, she earned
the title of Lunar herself. a beacon for the
broken. Though she cannot see or hear, she feels
the world in ways others cannot. Through vibration,
through intuition, through three threads of spirit,
she is brushed against in the night of her fire.
Now her lonely travel is needed as a luminary,
silent but unhealing, a black shamson slung across
her back. She carries as both a curse and a blessing,
protective almost to a fault of those in need
and the downtrodden. Every step she takes is
both penance and promise. She pleads not for
applause, but for truth. Because somewhere, the
demon still watches, listens to her songs, waiting
for the encore. And she will learn its name.
Thank you, Kriven. Whoa, super cool luminary
concept. I mean, I usually cut these down a lot,
right? I couldn't bring myself to trim any details
from this story, because it was pretty awesome.
A lot of thrills and chills. Honestly, he said
the whole thing to me, so all that. That's the
kind of storytelling you can expect if you listen
to... Explorers of Elmer Hall. Yeah. I had to
plug down further, but if you want to plug now,
let's do a plug now. Plug, plug, plug. Yes, Kriven's
got a podcast, Explorers of Elmer Hall. Check
it out and join his party of unlikely heroes.
In one particular case, extremely unlikely hero.
As they travel the tundras of Mordoon and learn
what it means to be a man. Speaking of plugs.
Oh, no. There's more plugs? Kriven's on the Discord.
Oh. That's right. Wait, Stephen, he's on the
what? He's on the Discord. Wait, we have a Discord?
We have a Discord? The Discord? Oh, shit. Actually,
sometimes he goes out and he posts for online
games he runs. Oh, yeah, yeah. He throws them
out there. Kriven runs about 6 ,000 games weekly.
So if you get a chance, you want to play a fun
one -shot with Kriven, get in there, check it
out, and join his Discord. He's got his own Discord.
He's got his own Discord. Hell yeah. Well, gentlemen,
Taurus season is officially over and spook time
is here at last. Spooky season. We've barely
been hollow screaming at all this year. What's
wrong with us? What's going on? I don't know.
You just did a callback. What? Taurus season.
Taurus? What? Taurus. Neither of you remember
that? No. Okay. Like way back when. Way, way,
way, way, way, way, way. You said Taurus and
we were both like. I thought you just said tortoise.
Tortoise season, yes. October. Have you been
on the wiki lately or something? Don't you dare.
We got a wiki. No, shut up. Shut up. It's spooky
time for spooky podcasters. I forget like 90
% of things and then my brain will suddenly like
find one tiny little thing from like four fucking
years ago. I'd be like, do you remember that?
No. Of course not. No. Anyways, sorry. Continue.
Those old men brains. You don't know what's going
on with them. Keep up. You'll be here soon. Never.
So I've got a little segment. I'm workshopping
here. I'm going to call this. I'm workshopping.
I'm going to call this. Piss your pants. Jesus
Christ. All right? Because it's so scary. So
to start off, I have a question for you guys.
Have you ever heard of two sentence horror stories?
Sure. Yeah. No. You know what these are? But
I think the name of it. Right on the tip. Yeah.
Makes sense. Okay. You got two sentences to a
whole horror story. Big twist. Boom, bam. Right.
Some of these things are pretty solid and some
of them are pretty, pretty bad. In either case,
I find them very amusing and I want to share
a few of them with you guys. Okay. I've got a
couple here from the annals of Reddit, the natural
birthplace of fine writing. Hey, stop it. I want
to read them to you. I want to get your reviews.
these thrilling tales. And then we're all going
to do a two -sentence horror story. God, that's
next week. No, we can do it. Let's do it on time.
We've got to really dig into these things, okay?
I want one out of five stars. No, I don't want
stars. I want scary jack -o' -lanterns. I want
one out of five scary jack -o' -lanterns, okay,
for each story. What's the range? Is one terrible?
Five is super scary? Yes, yes, yes. One is, five
is like, okay, all right. Are you ready for this?
You're going to put your phone that close to
the mic? I'm going to hold it over here and barely
read it. Okay. Really close to all three. Damn
it. Tinder is completely useless. Hang on. Sorry.
Let me get some spooky music for this spooky
story. Hang on. It's not plugged back in yet.
Oh, shit. That makes sense. The real horror story.
Technical difficulties. No, I didn't plug mine
in either. It's both of us. It's both of us.
We haven't done this in a couple weeks. We're
great at this. No, it's a silvery boy. We are
professional podcasters. Right? I'm pretty sure
it's a... What do you want from me? It's there.
There it is. There it is. Got it. Steven, you
didn't help at all. Just go home. We don't need
you in this episode. Oh, my God. All right, ready?
You ready? We're ready. Tinder is completely
useless, and I don't have a single match. If
I don't find another way to start a campfire
tonight, I'll freeze to death. How spook was
that? Honestly, I thought you meant the website.
Well, that's a point. It's a twist. It's the
twist. Oh, no, that's stupid. Yeah, yeah. That's
more of a comedy. I'm giving that three jack
-o' -lanterns at least. I give that one. That
was just funny. Out of five? Okay, it was funny.
It was comedic. Can I be fully frank with you?
If you're giving that a one, we need a lower
scale. It wasn't... I was just confused. That's
a real stinker. That was like a friggin'... That
was... Comedic. It wasn't scary. I hate that
the word Tinder is like, that word is changing
its definition. Here, this one kind of kicks
ass. This is a good one. Ready? They say you
die once when you stop breathing. And a second
time when someone says your name for the last
time. Sitting alone in my dilapidated apartment
for years now, I realize it's not always in that
order. That's slaps, right? That's great. Yeah,
that was pretty good. That's good. That was better.
Extensive dreads? Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right.
All right. How many jack -o' -lanterns? I mean,
based off the first one, I'm going to give that
four jack -o' -lanterns. Okay. Yeah, I'll give
that 3 .5. I'll give it a four. I'll give it
a four for it. Okay. Let's move on. It's me or
the dog, she said with a hard look in her eye.
Of course I chose her. She had a lot more meat
on her than that scrawny Pomeranian. It's cannibalism.
I give that a two because I knew it was coming.
Okay, you got it. Oh, really? Yeah, that was
very predictable. All right, you'll never see
this one coming. You'll never see this one coming.
Are you ready for this? Okay. The babysitter
called to say my kids wouldn't stop staring at
her. I don't have kids. So you discovered the
rather fascinating contradiction. I'm giving
that five jack -o -lanterns. Nine jack -o -lanterns.
The fucking rules. The fucking rules. All right.
Oh, my God. Imagine your phone rings. Hi, this
is your babysitter. It's just... All right. All
right, you guys got one? You guys got a two -sentence
horror story? We got one more. We got one more.
Jesus. One more. Okay. I got one in mind. Ready?
I got one. All right. An elderly woman approached
me in panic. Come, we need to run. I ran with
her until I asked, who are you running from?
And she smiled, from me. Ooh. Nope, that's a
one. That's the last one. Who's scared of a little
old lady? Well, right, but also like... I don't
understand the scenario. The scenario's weird.
Yeah, the scenario's pretty confusing. She's
running too. We got to run. I don't know. Anyway,
that was my two sentence horror stories. Do you
have an actual one? A David two sentence horror
story? Oh, gosh. No, I haven't thought this through.
I can try to make one up. You guys got one? Yeah,
I can make one up. Yeah, I can do one. Make one
up. You got to play the music, though. Oh, shit.
Sorry. I pulled down my pants. That was only
one sentence. I wasn't done. I wasn't done. Shit.
I pulled down my pants. My God. And pissed in
the studio. Wow. There's something in the air.
We've been talking about piss a lot. I know.
So the weird thing is that my two -sentence horror
story is also piss -related. Go ahead. I'm trying.
I'm trying. Went piss in a public urinal. Didn't
shake enough. 200 jack -o' -lanterns. That's
a horror story. That is... Just thinking about
it. Yeah. God. They would walk around Lowe's
with a... Somebody needs to make a movie about
that. A couple too many drips. It's bad. It's
a bad time. It's bad on hikes. This is a podcast
for men over 30, apparently. Apparently. I got
nothing. I got nothing. Really? I got nothing.
Wow. I didn't even pay him enough to all these
geniuses. How do I... He called us geniuses.
No, put it on my phone. You guys are all right.
Roll a dexterity saving throw. Fail. You pissed
your pants. Would that be dexterity or constitution?
Shh. You always complain about how there is no
use for the constitution saving throw. It's a
skill check. You just teed it up. It's the skill
check. There's no skills associated. Anyway,
that was Piss Your Pants. True to its name. I
hope you didn't get too scared, good listeners.
I'm sorry. I should have done a content warning
before that spicy. I bet we can stick one in.
At the top of the show, I bet we can do an editor
Jeremy or something and be like, hey, we say
piss a lot in the next 10 minutes. It's really
scary. Let's put this on like Shudder. On Shudder?
Oh, on Shudder, yeah. I know what that means.
It's a horror movie streaming site, right? Oh,
yeah. So like Tinder? Tinder, but for horror.
Tinder for horror movies? Yeah. What are we here
for? Are we playing a game or what's going on?
Are we actually going to play D &D? We had a
week off, right? I hate Lost. I love Lost, but
I hate it. The soundtrack's so good. Almost done.
Next week. I can't do it. You almost finished?
Three episodes away. Oh, God. We're going to
finish it, and we'll talk about next week, and
Stephen cannot wait. That's his bonus story.
Make it like bonus content or something. Bonus
content, David and Jeremy talk Lost. I'm about
to finish Lost, David said. Stephen groaned,
knowing what was coming next week. I'll give
it two pumpkins. All right. Let's get into it.
Jules and Blanche, you stand in the thick forest
of Talentapec, the foot of a volcano known as
Jade Mount. I'd say a wool ways from the foot
of a volcano. You've been moving swiftly, getting
away from this eruption, an imminent eruption.
You are beaten and burned, exhausted beyond belief.
In fact, I want a con save from both of you.
Oh. Ten. Ten. Oh, it's the cloak. No. Seven.
Seven. Fuck. Both of you have one level of exhaustion.
Now, you've been, hey, you've been moving through,
you were pushing through this. Rough terrain,
climbed a mountain, went through a tunnel, got
into a crazy temple, fought a fire god, and escaped,
barely, with your lives. So you get negative
one, what you were doing with the 2024 way, which
is negative one to all checks, D20 rolls. And
it's actually kind of funny, I think they...
canonized in 2024 that six levels of exhaustion
would be your death. So if that was the case
back in Sunset Seon, Jules would have been, like,
literally at death's door by the end of the arc.
I think we were at negative five at the end.
Jesus Christ. Yeah, super scary. So you're feeling
it, the two of you. Your lungs are filled with
the sting of smoke. Heavy sweat fills your clothing.
In this moment, Akio, having looked back to admonish
an ally that is no longer there, turns quickly
back to you, Blanche. He's gone! He reaches his
mouth back to start untying the sheathed sword,
Ichigenka, from his armor. Akiyo, uh... Sword
in mouth. Ichigenka belongs to you now. His ears
fully stand up, eyes go wide. Mr. Blanche, I
don't understand. My humble Snoop deserves no
such honor. I couldn't possibly... Don't say
that about yourself, Akio. As the last disciple
of Ozen, you wield his sword well. Perhaps better
than myself. You heard Emon say it himself. You
wield the sword well. I also acknowledge your
skill and prowess with it. My strength comes
more from my spellcasting. As such, it is...
Well, it is most beneficial to our party that
you take Master Ozen's sword. Now your words,
his tail is wagging furiously. His big eyes are
welling up with tears. I shall wield it for some
short time then. I am an old dog. You will have
your blade back before long, but I will be its
keeper for now. Until my breath runs out, I shall
wield Ichigenga with the pride and honor of becoming
of an old samurai. And he sheathed the blade.
Since Master Ozen, nobody has had more pride
or honor to wield it than you. Hell yeah. I will
update Akio's sheet later. Hell yeah. With Ichigenka
as a permanent fixture. Damn. As you. Share this
heartfelt scene. Another violent tremor runs
to the ground. Birds launch on the treetops all
around. Their panic chatter filling the air.
As they swarm into the sky, a tree comes crashing
down somewhere to your left and you see cracks
being formed at the edge of your sight. Yellowish
gases venting out into the forest. Behind you,
magma continues to pool out of the tunnel carved
near the summit of the volcano from whence you
left. The smoke billowing from the caldera is
growing thicker. In the sky above and before
you, five figures are flying your way, taking
a V formation in the air. The two on either side
look to be humans and dwarves dressed in simple
garb ash -gray cloaks. The one in the center,
though, is a different story. A tiefling woman
in a cloak of stark white, one that flares and
flows out the hips like a gown. She has crimson
skin. I think I said white in the last episode,
but I'm dumb. crimson skin that gleams like it
is coated by a collection of tiny interlocked
rubies. Between her pointed horns, three long
braids flitter in the wind. She's coming quite
close to you now. She has clocked you and she
is moving down your way. The others are kind
of coming in, sort of keeping a distance behind
and sort of staying in the air as she comes down
to meet you. Do you want to do a history check
to see what you know about this figure? Does
not need to be a high one. She is well known
to the Conqueror Worlds. Actually, Jules, you
should take advantage because you have seen this
figure in action before. Okay. Plus three. Ooh,
dirty 20. Nice. I got the same roll. Okay. Yeah,
it's only a 10. Okay. Oh, no, not the same role
as Steven. 320s? Madness. Okay. What you know
is this. You know the name of the figure, and
you know when you saw her before. Okay. You know
that this is a figure known as Zopa Reborn. She
was one of the luminaries that helped pull the
sapphire, pull the people from the sapphire at
the start. She is one of the top luminaries.
I believe she is number four now that the pig
man is gone, number five at that time. Jeez.
Okay. Let's fight her. Let's do it. Blanche,
you know a lot more than this. You've hit the
books. Maybe you know a bit about the other sort
of major luminaries out there. You know Zobo
was born on Telempec under a different name and
in the body of a dwarven male. It was a body
that did not fit her, and so she gave her life
in the pursuit of change, quite literally. She
trained hard in the druidic arts of Teletopec,
eventually joining a group of what would mechanically
be called Wildfire Druids that in this world
are known as the Watchers of the Ashes. She was
a prolific power in this field and managed to
master a spell known as Reincarnate that allows
one that has passed to return to life in a new
body. Assisted by her fellow Watchers, Zopa engaged
in a dangerous ritual and was reborn in the form
you see now. She is, uh... She is powerful. That
is completely bonkers. Is it bonkers? Isn't it
bonkers? Be like, I'm going to voluntarily die
so that I can not be a... Die knowing you got
the whole magical schwing going on, you know?
Yeah, but I just feel like... Die with absolute
certainty that death is not death. Yeah, so certainty
being the word that I'm a little hung up on.
I would be really nervous to be like, okay. I'm
going to die now. Well, you're not a master of
the druidic craft. No, I'm definitely not. I
mean, it is the belief on Tletepec, you've seen
it time and again, heard it time and again here,
that with destruction comes new growth. With
death comes new life. When a volcano erupts and
burns away the jungle, what grows back is more
beautiful and fruitful than ever before. So perhaps
this is just another way of this philosophy being
shown to the people of this world. As yet, another
tremor. More violent than the last, rips through
the ground. Zopa drops to the ground before you,
and you see up close that she is beautiful. Despite
her flight, her makeup is subtle and immaculate.
Her eyes, lined in black, sport irises that are
a far deeper red than her skin, flecked with
bits of gleaming gold. Her expression is surprisingly
calm. There's a sense of ease around her, entirely
awed at the danger building in the round, the
world around you. Another tree. falls nearby.
Without even looking at it, she speaks, her eyes
sweeping over both of you. Is Jade Mount the
surge source? The ash rise has come. A surge
has been sent to the plane of fire, threatening
to start a chain reaction with other nearby volcanoes.
It will spread, and the world will be consumed
in fire and ash. I suspected Jade Mount was the
source of this. Keep your answer brief, please.
You see one of the figures, Sopa, we gotta go!
Up top, sort of flying around. She does not look
to them. Her eyes say, fixed on you, eerily,
eerily calm. How fitting for the pyrophite to
show up now. Yes. Slight smile. Ow. Yes, jade
mount is erupting. Wait here. Stay safe. It will
be dangerous for you to move around if you panic.
And she looks at the others. Let us proceed with
the ritual. Channel to me, and I will take point
in the caldera. And she launches into the sky.
You see the figures all move around. They're
retaking that same V formation, zooming over
your heads, over the jungle, over towards the
smoking caldera of Jade Mount. And then you see
the four other figures take point around the
caldera as she dies into the smoke. You see a
show of light. It's so hard from here. Just tiny
little ants way up there at the top. You can
barely make them out. And they kind of vanish
as the thaw, as the smog sort of thickens. And
they are entirely gone. As you look up, you can
see bits of light flashing somewhere in the smog.
Do we get a sense, like, is she more powerful
than us? I think you'd know she probably is,
given her ranking. She would be, I believe, let
me look at this. I have the rank right here,
actually. Do you remember Handsome Jai? Yes.
Stronger than him. He was pretty scary. Okay.
You feel another crack split the earth nearby.
You feel tremors begin to build and build. You
hear a sound like a far off gunshot. It's not
from Jade Mountain. You look over and see the
volcano begins to churn out black, black smoke
somewhere to the north. And the chemmers die
down and stop. The smog begins to lift and clear
over Jade Mountain, over the other volcano to
the north. And everything becomes calm again.
With my decent history check, I don't know if
I missed it, but... Does Blanche know what quote
-unquote class? Yes, wildfire druid. Oh, that's
right. You said druid. So she's particularly
talented in the arts of fire. Fire. But she is
a druid. She's purpose -built for this. She has
some connection with the forces of nature. You
see as the rumbling dies, there's a vent of steam.
like pressure release from the top of Jade Mound.
The other figures sort of fall back and out of
the steam, the figure in white flies up into
the air and swoops down back towards you. She
drops down in the same place just before you.
The other figures you see zoom overhead, heading
back somewhere to the west towards Shoshotla
and civilization. Bazopa turns to you. What did
you do down there? I have stopped the ash rise.
How? A ritual. We have perfected it over the
last six. This would have been the seventh ash
rise. Doomsday has come for this world seven
times now. And it's been stopped seven times
now. This happened after we... killed the elemental
who dwelt there. Is that what happened the other
six times? Roll an insight check for me. Oh!
21. 21. You get two pieces of information here.
Firstly, since she's come back, there has been
something that does not show on her face. Her
face is porcelain. But there is something in
her eyes. A concern, a fear, a vast weariness.
Whatever she just did, you can tell it took a
lot out of her. And as much as she wants to make
you feel calm, there is little calm in her. The
other thing you note is when you ask that question,
when you mention the elemental, you see surprise.
She kind of looks to the side thinking... Yeah,
Blanche is just waiting for an answer. I... Do
not know of an elemental. There are elementals
around most volcanoes here. They are connected
intrinsically to the plane of fire, so it is
not strange to see them in the jungles. So there
has been no catalyst the other six times? No.
It happens seemingly at random? Not at random.
We have ways of telling when it may come, being
prepared. In this case, We were not. This was
a surprise to us. It is deeply fortunate that
we are scouting nearby. We rarely travel so far
out from the observatory. But we happen to see
the coming destruction. Smoke and the wind. I'd
be eager to hear more of what caused it. I have
a request for you. One that may be to your benefit.
As Blanche is listening, she reaches into her
bag and she grabs a... A little snack, seeing
how tired she is and hands it over. Oh, for her.
Oh, so I'll take it to Jeremy. So I was like,
see how tired she is. Hey, Jules, eat the snack.
Yeah, Jules, look how exhausted this luminary
is. Let's share a snack about it. Just staring
along the way. Is that trail mix? Is that mole
on trail mix? It's mole flavored. Jerky trail
mix. Damn. Honestly, I'd try that. Yeah, I'll
do anything once. You offer a snack. I think
there's a moment of you reaching out and she
is holding back. And she looks into your eyes,
looks at the proffered gift. And she just kind
of smiles a little bit and sighs and lets her
shoulders kind of sag like she's done keeping
the mask on. Yes. I will accept, thank you. Don't
patronize us. I know you're quite powerful, but
we are luminaries as well. Oh, believe me. I
know who you are, Blanche Turrell. George LaRoche.
And how does it make you feel that we are here?
I have complex feelings in many regards, but
I don't see you as heralds of any destruction.
I am one of the few who knows the truth of our
worlds. I know of Shadrakhan. I know of what
you face. My people, the Watchers of the Ashes,
are stationed primarily at the Twin Gods Observatory.
If you intend to return to Shashortlight, it
is not far off your path. Did you... Did you
happen to buy a map from the map store back in
Shashortlight? It's been a couple of weeks. I'll
need a reminder. I don't think we... This is
stupid. She points it out to you. Oh, yeah, the
map. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. There's a
map store. That's how we found it. Right across
from the Molly shop. I would ask that you join
me there tonight to feast, to rest, and to talk.
If you are willing to tell, I'd like to know
why you are here and what you experienced at
Jade Mount, the full story or whatever you're
willing to tell me. And there is another matter,
too. Like I said, I know well who you are and
what great matters are balanced upon your shoulders.
I hope to aid you in a sense, to outfit your
minds with tools of understanding. I'm sorry,
my phone just... It's always you. It is a text.
It's always your phone. I am becoming soon BRB.
She puts her phone away. Understanding who ruined
the recording. Will you come? Could you help
heal exhaustion? Believe it or not, starting
that earthquake or volcano eruption. It was quite
tiring. It was just a little exhausting. At least
one level of exhausting. If I had to put a number
on it. Let me take a look. Okay. Lesser Restoration
is not doing anything with exhaustion. She shakes
her head. This I cannot help you with. Only a
rest can help you. But I can help you in a different
way, I think. She has two things. First, she
reaches over and she's going to cast Cure Wounds.
No need to roll die. You'll have time to do a
thing, but she's going to at least help some
of the burn. You guys are still stinging her.
You just came out of a harrowing fight. That
fight was fucking awesome, by the way. Dang it,
that was a good fight. Emmett's shoes were on
fire. His shoes were... She heals you both. You
feel warmth wash over you as your wounds close
just a bit. She heals Akio. And then she's going
to cast Fly. on all three of you. Whoa. Hell
yeah. Since Ebonrath took the Rod of Flying with
him. No, bullshit. No, no, no. It's God. No,
I was thinking about that earlier and I was like,
I was like, okay, do I say out loud in words,
in human words, I took the Rod of Flying back
and I said, and I said, no, you know what? David's
a half reasonable person. I don't need to interrupt
whatever he's doing to... No. Shame on you. That's
stupid of you, dude. I say no. You see him flying
off, a little speck in the distance, star in
the sky. No, no, no, no, no. She gets flying.
You still have the rod. With her rod on her back,
slung across her back, Blanche flies away. You
guys going? Yeah. Yeah. I think she takes to
the skies, hoping that you will fall in behind
and perhaps. We see all our characters in Keo.
This is weird. Can Jules be riding a Keo while
they're flying? Hell yeah, you can. There's no
rules. If you're both flying. Yeah, with his
cloak just flapping in the wind. There's no rules
in this game made of rules. This is the Radiant
Citadel version of Falcor. Yes. I'm riding Falcor.
And our party... Falcon punch! We see our party
take to the skies above the forests, between
the mountains of Tlatelpec, launching their way
towards a new destination. That was fun and nice.
I think it's time. We get back to the not -so
-fun, not -so -nice bad stuff that's going on
with you guys, right? I knew this was too good
to last. Oh, it's been a minute since you got
pretty dark in the show. Dark in the pants. It's
dark in there. A little bit of piss. Oh, I'm
about to piss on you guys a lot. Please don't.
Let's slide somewhere else. We're going to open
on the Radiant Citadel and the Ugly Coyote. where
we see Jean, Gabriela, Arhalon, Ader, and the
Cherry Delights, and Dresden, are all gathered
around the screen in the Ugly Coyote watching
a breaking news broadcast on Ader's new crystal
projector. Oh yeah, that's right. There's been
a period of stillness for the last week or so
where little has changed and developed. It seems,
though, that things are moving behind the scenes
of the network of the conquered worlds again.
As you watch a montage of clips that keep driving
more and more spikes of horror into all of your
guts. Mass arrests have been made in this last
day. As Atash has begun to weed out the corruption
and influential businesses throughout the world.
A continuation, it is said, of his efforts with
Yitzmin on Sansatyan. So you guys helped start
this. You got that ball rolling. And now we're
going to see where that ball goes. Speaking of
Saint -Etienne... Wait, hold on. How did we start
this? Can you slow down for a second? Huh? You
helped him weed out the corruption in Saint -Etienne.
You helped him prove that a lot of these influential
businesses are pretty bad. Hitzman Del Prado?
Bad dude. He's just continuing the work. So just
because we exposed the awful corruption of Hitzman
Del Prado, now he's just there and he's like,
okay, I'm gonna... The world's want to see more
of this justice. The ratings were fantastic.
Two of the first faces you see are those of Paloma
and Grindy. Both frozen in crystal prisons, their
faces locked in states of rage. Dresden, you
feel that belt of dwarven kind tied around your
hip as well as the scorpion tail dagger of venom
that hangs in its sheath. Wonders of magical
craft, both gifts from a now damned woman. Oh,
that reminds me, I haven't been doing rolls to
grow a beard. Give me a roll to see if you have
a beard. I want to see how sad you look. Let's
go. How many rolls do you owe us? A lot. Give
me one roll to see if you grew a beard before
this morning. One? One roll. I have a 50 % chance.
I have a 50 % chance each day of growing a full
beard. Roll a d20. Sure. 1 through 10. Disadvantage.
You have no beard. Disadvantage. 11 through 20,
you have a beautiful, glorious dwarven beard.
Perfect. Seven. Ah, you're good. You shaved already.
All right, he's still sexy, Dresden. It's coming
in a little hairy. You're generous. You're generous.
I don't want 20 rolls right now. Could have at
least given him disadvantage. Dresden Kellig,
you no longer have a sponsor. You see a number
of others. are mentioned as well and shown on
the screen, all preserved in that same horrid
way. You see that many of these figures are owners
of companies from various worlds, some of which
are as high profile as Marfil. You see Amir Nur,
president of Koragar Concoctions from Taib. Looks
like Handsome Jai no longer has a sponsor. You
see Margus Ruba, king of Zinda's Tavern and Intrade.
And fun fact, it's actually Nargus Ruba in the
book. I just can't read with an N. But anyway.
You see Margus Ruba. You see Pepper the Haringon.
No, fuck off. Too far. Arrested for an old assault
charge from early on in his life when God's breath.
He has been frozen in an expression of helpless
pleading. You can vaguely make out the stain
of tears in the fur of his cheeks as his crystal
prison moves through a spot of light and jewels
the roche. You no longer have a sponsor. Hold
on. No. No, hold on, hold on. Yeah. Pepper, the
Haringan. We established in the scene way back
when with Justin Skellig breaking into the coyote
that he does have a criminal record. Justin threatened
to expose it. Atash and Rune simply made use
of it. So he's now... Gone. As the last of the
prisoners are taken onto the turquoise Concord
Jewel and sent off to the Sky Prison, the sounds
of cheers slowly dying down. The broadcast comes
to a somber end. At least here in the Coyote,
everyone else is celebrating. Ader looks up to
see Gabriella moving to the shelf and quietly
picking up the crystal projector. He just doesn't
have to wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Gabriella
casually dropkicks the projector through a table.
Awkwardly turns back to Aether. Sorry. Johto
buy you a new one. Again. Is that another 300
gold? Probably. Give me 300 more gold. Yeah.
And let's leave that scene. Because we're not
done yet. No. We are not done yet. We open on
the strange, otherworldly space that is the top
floor of the House of Convalescence. A platform
suspended in a sky of swirling gray clouds. A
sapphire, pulsing blue, resting on a pedestal.
We see Runru's song as... What's the word here?
It says poaching. It's not the word I wanted.
It's the word for when you're... Pacing? Pacing,
thank you. I couldn't think of the word. Poaching?
Hey. Poaching? Poaching. We all have our days.
Poaching some eggs. Back and forth. Some of us
can write a good two -sentence horror story and
some of us can't. Hey, shut up. I'll show you
a horror story. Just listen. Make it two sentences.
Casting a tall shadow in the sapphire's light,
he stops and looks up suddenly, smiling wickedly
as Atash And Salome move through the clouds into
this chamber. Rune doesn't cast a tall shadow
anywhere. The light's like that sometimes. He's
close to the sapphire. The light's like, shut
up. Angles. Rune immediately almost like jumps
towards Atash almost very excitedly. So how did
the meeting with the speakers go? And Atash just
steps forward. You see a rare smile. It is done.
Those deemed as luminary adventurers now answer
directly to me. I've also used this opportunity
to finally pluck the wings off of a few buzzing
insects. An example to those that may be hesitant
to follow my command. You may make the announcement
at your pleasure. And Rune's, like, rubbing his
hands. My pleasure, indeed. You see, he looks
run down. His rounded glasses aren't quite large
enough to fully cover the dark circles beneath
his eyes. Natash sort of pours into him. This
matter should have been dealt with some time
ago. I've been told that Blanche and Jules have
left the Citadel again in the wake of your incompetence.
I was set up, okay? Those Grimisk... When I find
out who... Look, look, look, look, look. I've
got it under control. It's fine, right? Who needs
blackmail when you're already on top? And the
stirrings of certain recordings spreading around?
Ones that involve you and... Lies! Lies! And
under control. And what about your own problems,
hmm? I've heard your forces back home are feeling
the lion's bite again, huh? The silent roar has
its voice back, huh? Not. For long, justice will
find a singer. A peal of thunder rings through
the chamber, lightning flashing in the black
clouds, and a voice booming over everything,
cutting everyone off and down. Do not fret over
small annoyances. Our victory is all but assured.
Soleil is taken. The fractured horn cowers in
the shadows. Unification awaits for only one
final push. Let us move on to discussions of
the coming assault. Something gets very still
in the Roman room, kind of. It's the first one
to speak. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Shouldn't
we talk about this, you know, the angel in the
room here? The smaller one, I mean. Should she
be privy to this kind of intel? Please. Pointing
a thumb towards you, Salome. I think everyone
kind of looks at you as if for the first time,
realizing that you are there. Salome is totally
chill. I was like, you did some pretty clever
shit last time Salome was on screen. I, David,
only when I was pointing to the Discord realized
that you had some fun with the little speech
I gave you that I didn't realize. You snuck a
justice on dying in there. You ended it off with
a very vague statement that seemed to imply that
perhaps the true luminaries weren't Tosh and
those loyal. The thing is, David didn't catch
it. So I can't in any conscience say that anybody
else did either. You son of a bitch. Sneaky,
sneaky. Honestly, you wrote it, so I'm really
surprised that you didn't catch it. No, he changed
words. I know, that's what I'm saying. But you
wrote it. I just thought he was trying to put
it inside of his voice. I abridged it. It was
very loquacious. I have a certain style. Yeah,
and I made it shorter. Rune wrote it, and Rune
has a certain style. Was it an S .C. Lewis thing?
If I had more time, I'd have written something
shorter. No, that's good. I like that. And so
as everyone turns to you, I think Atash is the
first to speak and say, Salome has proven herself
as an ally to our cause. I see no reason to remove
her. Rune takes you in. There's a low rumble
from the clouds around. Do you want to say anything?
I mean, if everybody's looking at Salome expecting
her to say something, then she will. What's the,
like, give me the, can I roll a vibe check? Yeah.
Roll insight. Okay, great. Roll vibe. Roll vibes.
Roll vibes. I've been in these sort of scenarios
before and if I can say nothing and just things
will happen around me, that's exactly what I
want to do. 16. Atash firmly thinks you should
be here. You get the feeling Atash wants another
Celestial around in this sort of conspiracy group.
You get the feeling Atash despises Rune, despite
what Rune has done for him. Rune has eventually
given him control over the network after he'd
burned all his resources back on Sansatyan. What
Atash, I think, sees you being here as a way
of kind of like shifting the balance of power
away from Rune, kind of getting caught up in
the Sapphire's good graces. Rune is clever. Rune
is good at pulling strings. Rune does not want
you here. Rune... Is the opposite of Atash. He
sees what Atash wants, and he wants to avoid
that. The sapphire or the 16, you have no idea.
You just get the impression that this faceless
gem is looking right at you, unblinking. Without
saying anything, Salome will walk closer to Atash
within a step or two, and she'll stand next to
Atash. She'll cross her hands in front of her
body and stand and wait. She may stay. Shifting
in the clouds, grimness grows in the faces of
your cohorts. Something is building a tension,
a different kind of storm, and you realize the
real talk is about to begin. Freedom Ironworks!
Atash turns to Rune, saying these two words.
All dealt with. Our people are calling the shots
now. And Kedra Kamal will have his requesting
opponents for his, uh, project. He looks pointed
to Salamaze, he kind of trails off there, and
turns back to Atash. I'll need you to keep a
heavy guard on the shipments, though. And I think
a good old tail to spin to ward away the curious
would be in order. I'll think of something. If
all goes well, he'll have everything he needs.
Then we will give him time enough to see results.
Two months. Begin seeding resentment against
the incarnates now, and we should have full public
support by that time. I agree. We have the luminaries.
We have the shield -bearers. We have the freedom
to move my celestials through the Citadel. Three
armies. For should Kajal's work bear fruit, this
will be more than enough. Nagroon sort of, his
eyes flicker to you, Salome. He kind of, you
want to explain? And Atash turns down to you.
He's so large, so all -encompassing. And yet
something seems so small about him bathed in
the light of that. Sapphire. And he speaks. In
order to unify our worlds, in order to forge
a final, everlasting peace, we need only remove
one obstacle. Well, 24 obstacles. You might have
figured from Shelly's little stunt, but the Arural
Diamond can do a lot more than serve as a gate
between worlds. It's connected to the mind of
every single being on the worlds. One spell cash
in the central node and bam! Eternal peace. And
prosperity for those involved in bringing it
along. Only issue is, the Donin cards need to
be in full support. Any one of them can veto
the spell and immediately disrupt it. I can afford...
Not a single one will raise a claw to see our
quest fulfilled. The Sunwave would be ashamed
to see us now. We cannot convince them. So, we
will remove them all. In two months' time, I
am going to lead an assault on the preserve of
the Ancestors and on the Dawn Incarnate. Ozen
alone was able to nearly defeat the sapphire
livern. A peal of thunder, a flash of lightning,
a dangerous topic. Imagine, then, what can be
done with four armies, with trained shield -bearers
armed with Sansa -chan magic steel, with a sky
filled with the beating wings of our celestial
kin. With the power of each and every luminary
adventurer worthy enough to stand by my side.
And with Keto's own brilliance revealed in the
heat of war. In two months, the auroral diamond,
the very power of the Sunweaver, will be ours
to command. And we will see his dream fulfilled.
Yeah. At last, my children, they will know peace
beneath the warmth of my guiding light. There's
a pause here. Standing next to Atash, Salome
turns to face him and gets on her knees. and
reaches her arms out in like a half prostrate.
Which, which spoke is the weakest, Atash? Where,
how may I help the most? A worthy question. The
shield bearers will need leadership, but Ariat
should return by that time, his own mission fulfilled.
Once Kajal's is. No. My greatest fear, the number
of luminaries that are leaving my support. This
undercurrent, this justice undying has done damage.
We have lost forces. Forces that could come to
turn against us in our time of glory. You can
be a voice for the luminaries. You can work among
them. Help them see the light. Anyone who speaks
against our plans. Anyone who would turn their
sight towards lesser luminaries and their callings.
She bends further down and further prostrates
herself. Equip me with your power. Equip me with
the ability to turn them. Holy shit. You son
of a bitch. Holy shit. Would you want a magic
item? Is that what you're getting out of here?
Huh? Roll a persuasion check. Okay. Roll a persuasion
check. Ah, fuck. Do I have any buttons? I don't...
know that i do there's a button here and a green
i think that's yours that might be my button
i think that's your button you want to give me
that button yeah because that's my tray the gray
tray is over here i think the green tray is yours
so i think that's your button i'm gonna need
it because i've got a plus zero to persuasion
oh my gosh i can't believe you're doing this
fuck me in the face it's a 13 13 Did you just
say fuck me in the face? I need something that's
like hyperbolic, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. She
has proven herself. She is like almost full -on
prostrate in front of these people. Of course.
I will see it done. Atash. Our budget isn't exactly,
you know, we're tied up in a lot of things right
now. Do not question the abilities of Atash and
the Sapphire Wyvern. And Salome lifts her head
and scornfully stares at Rune. Rune shrinks away.
Atash kind of looks down, smiles, and he does
kind of... He does speak some amount of wisdom,
though. A rare occasion. But we can outfit you
in some manner. Following this episode, if Salome
doesn't find a way to die in this scene, you
may pick a magic item that I would value less
than 2 ,000 gold. Damn. And that may join your...
A higher roll would have gotten you a higher
value item. Yeah, yeah. I think this is cool.
That was a stinker. And you've been very clever
with Salome. I like this a lot. Will Rune see
to my outfitting? I think you just see him kind
of like he looks like he's going to say something.
He looks up at Atash, who's just glaring down
at him. I think he finally kind of looks back
to you and you realize Rune is useful, but he
is the punching bag here. He is the butt monkey
of this conspiracy. And I think him also realizing
that he kind of just like face gets a little
red beneath his glasses and he kind of. It is
my absolute pleasure to serve you, Salome, seeing
as how you are loyal to our cause. There's something
there, some level of distrust, and you might
think, rolling over your earlier insight, that
you should be careful with Runru's song. Salome
stands up. turns to Rune, and gives a half bow.
I am forever grateful, and you shall bask in
our victory. Oh, I will. The promises. But that
is talk for after the assault. Yes. There is
much to plan yet. But at this time, all is in
order. The clouds rumble with agreement. You
feel this meeting is starting to die down. Status
update and little more. But perhaps playing your
cards will be privy to more meetings to come.
Though the time may come where you want to find
ears to speak to, because you have so much intel,
Salome. And there's little you can do with it
yourself. Salome. I think there's a moment as
voices drone on. I think you hear Atash begin
to speak. There is only now the Marlon. How do
you have that from? Voices that seem to fade
before you, plunged into water. As your mind
is overtaken by a very familiar vision of prophecy.
And you see it right there. You see it because
you are a part of it. And it is so beautiful
and it is so horrifying. A united world. flooded
by that cold blue light. A world casting a long
black shadow, and we'll call it there.